Protective device for typewriter attachments for making multiple copies



April 28, 1953 v c. G. lcE 2,636,589

PROTECTIVE DEVICE FOR TYPEWRITER ATTAcHMENTs FOR MAKING MULTIPLE coPIEs 2 SI'IEETS--SI-IEET l Filed July l?. 1948 flllldl IN V EN TOR.

C/ukLfs 6. R/cc Arron/vn' 'April 28, 1953 c. G. RICE 2,636,589

v PROTECTIVE DEVICE FOR TYPEWRITER ATTACEMENTS E FoR MAKING MULTIPLE coPIEs f Filed Jul;rv 17, 1948 2 SHEETS-L-SI-{EET 2 Flc-3.4

#from/Ey Patented Apr. Y28, 1953 ILROTECTIVE' DEVICE FOR TYPEWRITER` ATTACHMENTS FOR MAKING: MULTIPLE GOPIES Charlesordcn-ice, Fort-Lauderdale; Fla.:

Application July 17, 19482' Serial No. 39333 This inventionV relates to attachments for typewriters for making multiplecopies byf theV use of. ribbon strips, and more particularly to pro-- tecti've meansv for usen connection therewith.

In making duplicater copies on the typewriter; sheets of'carbon paperare usually'A employed, and it; has been proposed heretofore touse a ribbon strips or` stripsy which are" positioned between the sheets of paper in' the machine and. ink they write ing` area thereof, in order to-make the duplicatecopies; Thesel ribbony strips have been inadeof paper or'cloth, and the latterv aregenera'lly inked, similar to the main: or'usual typewriter rib-bon.

One'of.- the diliculties encountered with4 sucharrangements is that the 'auxiliary rribbon or -ribbonsmay'be dragged out of position by'thepaper' asthe platen" is turned to` feed the paper upor down; or' however' the paper isinroved pastthe writing'position; As the auxiliaryribbon orribbons driftout' of 'ipositi'om thedupii'cate copy 4may become' incomplete;

Another: of the diiiculties" encountered', ati least in' those;` formsV where. the supplemental: ribbon strip is caused' to' move transversely-of the writingl` position so as to present fresh` areas: thereofalong thewriting'line; is that thesupp'lemental ribbon might smudge the, pages between which it moves;

It has been' proposed inthe pastN to employ protective devices in the form of.one or twowires parall'eling the portion 0i the`- ribbon. strip exposed along. the writing line, and" in. some' instances these. wiresv have been. somewhat greater. in. diameter than the thickness` ofi the ribbon. Such prior arrangements have been iifiadequate, and not continually effective.

It is an object of this, invention to provide. a simple', economical, andl effective pairof" protective devices, andmean's to" maintain thetsame under spring tension, so that theyv are always taut.

the parts oithe attaci'iment'v ofgenera'lY interest' (Cl. 197-153f 2. areshownin dot and dash lines, andi inwhich- Fig: l is a. partialy plan View of theftypewriter attachment according to my invention, and'- in which other partsare broken' away to` facilitate an understanding of the invention;

Fig. 2g is a irontl elevation of the attachment, partsl also being broken away;

Fig'. 3 is a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation looking toward the left hand endseen in Figsi l' and 2;

Fig; 5 isan enlarged fragmentary end view of the lower half of" the ribbon guide or wiresupport;

Fig, 6 is a section on lines 6 5 of Fig. 2';

Fig'. 7 is a. frontv elevation of the-part shown in Fig. 6;

Fig; 8 is an end viewof the spring tensioning element;

Figs: 9'r and l0A are views similar to Fig. '7 of modifications of my invention, and" Figs. lli and'v l2 are fragmentary detail views of a modified form of a wire holding means;

In the embodiments of the invention herein described, the mechanism is made in the form of an attachment. to be mounted on any standard typewriter, without requiring changes in itsr construction,v and is so arranged that the attachment mayormay not be used for making duplicate copies by moving' the supplemental ribbon f in or ont o'fiwriting position.

The attachment comprises a pair of' arms' Il and i2, joined' together by a tube |13 so as to pivot as a unitgthe arms ifi and I2 being mounted on. the left and right ends oi' the typewriter carriage, and the tube [3. being at the rear thereof; The tube t3 is lpivotally mounted soV that the' arms maybe swung to an upright position, and the typewriter may be used to make single copies, or multiple copies by use of carbon sheets.

The arms' il and l2 carry ribbon spools i4 and It, respectively, on which the supplementaly ribbon is mounted. Mechanism is provided for driving the spools to move the ribbon,A but' since this invention isnot concerned with such mechani'sm,. it', is not shown or. described in detail,

Mounted uponthe leftv hand arm ilv I`provide a .rilobonguidev it, andV upon the right hand arm I2y a second ribbon guide il. The guide iii is provided with a horizontalv slot i8, and .a second slot it' at an angle of' 45 with the horizontal slot.. Arm l'i has a similar horizontal slot 2l, and' a 45 slot 22, the slot 22 also being disposed' at 90 with slot' i9. In operation, the ribbon comes from spool. M, passes outwardly through f slot' E 8', inwardly through" slotv I9; thence behind the ribbon guide I6, across the face of the platen, behind the rear face of ribbon guide Il, thence through slots 22 and 2l, and on to the other spool I5.

The protective devices, with which this application is concerned, are carried by the ribbon guides I6 and I'I. These comprise wire strands 3l and 32 spaced apart vertically by a distance a little .greater than the width of the supplemental ribbon which passes between them, and are somewhat larger in diameter than the thickness of the ribbon. I have found that satisfactory results are obtained with what is known as #38 gage music wire (.008" diameter), and the wires are spaced apart one-half inch, when using a ribbon three-eights of an inch wide and about .004 or .005 thick, but I do not wish to be limited either to these sizes or the stated ratios.

To mount and hold the wires 3l and 32 in position, I may provide a pair of holes 33 and 3d in the side face of ribbon guide I 5, these holes being slightly larger in diameter than the wires employed, and located at spaced points on an arc substantially concentric with the typewriter platen.

In the embodiment of the invention now being described, the wire strands are formed from a single piece bent into an elongated U-shape, and if desired, I may provide entrance slots 35 and 33 for the holes 33 and 34, to facilitate mounting the wire in ribbon guide I6, and a clamping nger 31 struck up from the ribbon guide I6, and which may be bent down over the wire to hold it, after the wire is put in position.

. The wire strands extend behind the spaced apart ribbon guides I5 and Il, through holes in ribbon guide Il similar to holes 33 and 34, and have the open end of the U secured at the right hand side of the carriage by means of a tensioning spring arrangement 4 I, which is mounted on ribbon guide Il. The spring 4l is preferably a formed strip, which is arcuate to somewhat conform to the shape of the platen, and has a flat center portion 150, diverging angularly eX- tending portions 42 and 43, and outwardly extending wire carrying portions i4 and 45. The latter portions are provided with holes through which the ends of the wire are threaded, the end being knotted with the spring placed under ten" sion to exert the desired tension on the wires.

The center portion has spring ears 4B and 41 extending from and perpendicularly to opposite sides of the center portion. To assemble the spring 4I on ribbon guide Il, a slot 48 is provided in the side face of the ribbon guide, which slot is just large enough to slidingly receive ear 47, while ear 46 engages the front of the ribbon guide. The ears form a clip which with the slot i8 keep the spring mounting from wobbling.

As noted, in the embodiment of the invention just described, strands 3| and 32 are actually one continuous wire, but it will be understood that this is not necessarily required, as they may be separate strands each individually mounted, as shown at 49 and 50 in the modication of Fig. 9. In this embodiment, the wires are simply threaded through holes in the side iianges of ribbon guides i6 and I'I, and knotted or otherwise headed to hold them in position. In this gure, no springs are shown but spring tension may be maintained on the wires by giving the arms l I and I2 a slight outward bias or spring, and then pulling them inward to be parallel while knotting the wires 49 and 50. Thus, the resiliency of arms II and I2 would serve to maintain the wires under tension.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 10, still another method is used to maintain tension in the wires. In this instance, wires 5I and 52 have their right hand ends formed into coiled spring portions Ela and 52a, which bear against the side of ribbon guide Il. The wires are assembled in holes in the ribbon guides I6 and I'I with the portions 5Ia and 52al under compression, and since the wires are slidable in the holes, these spring portions serve to keep the wires 5I and 52 under tension.

Referring now to Figs. 1l and 12, I have shown a modincation of thel method of mounting the protector wires on ribbon guide I6. In this instance the side of guide I6 is provided with a wire receiving hole 53, which may or may not be of the same diameter as the wire, and a slit or cut 54 is provided from the edge of the guide into the hole 53; The lower portion 55 may be slightly bent out of position, as shown in Fig. l2, the wire inserted, and the portion 5 5 bent back to its original position, and may clamp the wire strand.

It will be seen that with the wire strands paralleling the edges of the portion o1 the ribbon which stretches between the ribbon guides, should ythis portion of the ribbon tend to creep with the paper as it is moved past the writing line of the platen it will encounter the particular wire and be stopped. The fact that the wire is slightly larger thanthe thickness of the ribbon tends to reduce the friction of the paper on the ribbon; and the whole arrangement protects the papers from being smudged by the supplemental ribbon,

f even along the edges of the sheets.. The continual tensioning of both wires protects them from damage and dislodgment in case they are accidentally struck, and also provides a take-up for any incidental stretching of the wires or either of them. Finally, the simple mounting arrangement provides economical initial manufacture and inexpensive servicing and repairs in the iield,

In the specication, I have explained the principles of my invention and the best mode in which I have contemplated applying those principles, so as to distinguish my invention from other in ventions; and I have particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed the part improvement or combination which I claim as my invention or discovery.

While I have shown and described certain preferred embodiments of my invention, it will be understood that modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, as will be clear to those skilled in the art.

I claim: l. In mechanism of the class described having a pair of ribbon guides adapted to be disposed forwardly of and adjacent the ends of a platen of the machine to which the mechanism is applied, a pair of vertically spaced wires extending between said ribbon guides, and a spring located between said wires and the outer edge of at least one of saidribbon guides for maintaining said wires under tension.

2. In mechanism of the class described having a pair of arms adapted to be disposed adjacent the ends of a platen of the machine to which the mechanism is applied and a ribbon extending between said arms, a pair of vertically spaced elements carried by said arms and parallel to edge portions of said ribbon, and a spring having oppositely extending portions mounted on one of said arms, the ends of said elements being sea pair of ribbon guides adapted to be disposed adjacent opposite ends of a platen of the machine to which the mechanism is applied, a pair of wire strands secured to one of said ribbon guides, and a spring carried by the opposite ribbon guide and having a central flat portion engaging the ribbon guide and outwardly extending spring portions, the free ends of the wire strands being secured in said outwardly extending portions.

5. In mechanism of the class described having a pair of ribbon guides adapted to be disposed adjacent opposite ends of a platen of the machine to which the mechanism is applied, a pair of Wire strands extending between the ribbon guides, and a spring mounting on one of the ribbon guides and receiving said wire strands, the springA mounting comprising a mounting clip engaging the ribbon guide and a pair of projecting springv adjacent opposite ends of a platen of the machine to which the mechanism is applied, one of said guides having a flange and a slot in said ilange, a pair of wire strands extending between the ribbon guides, and a spring mounting on one of the guides and receiving said wire strands, said mounting comprising a central porton having a pair of ears extending therefrom, one of said ears being received in said slot and the other of said ears engaging the surface of said guide, and a pair of projecting spring arms to which the Wire strands are respectively attached.

'7. In mechanism of the class described having a pair of ribbon guides disposed adjacent opposite ends of a platen of the machine to which the mechanism is applied, each of said guides having a flange and each of said flanges having a pair of spaced mounting holes located therein at points on an arc, wire strands extending between the ribbon guides and received in said holes, and a spring mounting on one of the guides having an arcuate shape substantially coinciding with the arc on which the holes are located and receiving one end of said wire strands.

CHARLES GORDON RICE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 344,576 Histed June 29, 1886 649,514 Gorin May 15, 1900 2,058,859 Fried Oct. 27, 1936 2,320,394 Ratchford et a1 June 1, 1943 

